The Supreme Court on Wednesday further stayed the execution of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, lone death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, and sought responses from Maharashtra Special Task Force and CBI on his plea seeking review of death penalty awarded to him.
In an open court hearing, a three-judge bench, headed by Justice A R Dave, said the execution of Memon shall remain stayed during the pendency of his review petition against the imposition of death penalty and fixed the matter for further hearing on January 28, 2015.
“We are issuing notice,” the bench, also comprising justices J Chelameswar and Kurian Joseph, said.
The counsel appearing for Memon said that neither the trial court nor the apex court gave special reasons for sending him to gallows.
“My entire conviction is based on retracted confessions of several co-accused,” his lawyer said.
The lawyer also alleged that Memon was convicted and then sentenced to death by the special TADA court even before the entire judgement was delivered, hence, his conviction was not valid.